


Propose: Interlude

by ashes0909, FestiveFerret



Series: Held [96]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bonus Scene, Feelings, Fluff, M/M, Team Reactions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:41:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21868465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashes0909/pseuds/ashes0909, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: The team reacts to Steve and Tony's engagement.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Held [96]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/646247
Comments: 21
Kudos: 272





	Propose: Interlude

**Bruce:**

Bruce hovered by the elevators, taking in the music, laughter, and clinking of glasses that filled the space. He'd never been here before. The Skytop Gallery was beautiful, but the floor-to-ceiling windows were making his stomach wobble a little bit. He shuffled closer to the art in the middle of the room, but through the glass divider, he could see Clint and Steve talking, Steve's face parted by a huge grin.

Engaged. It shouldn't have been surprising, but it was, mostly because Tony was hardly one to keep a secret, and he hadn't mentioned at all that he was planning to propose. But Steve had announced last week that he had, and a few days later, Bruce had received his invitation to their engagement party. He suspected something had gone on before the guests arrived because Steve was wearing a shiny new ring, and kept shooting Tony particularly soppy glances. 

It was wonderful, really, to see their love and see it confirmed so beautifully, but Bruce couldn't help but worry a little. They already faced off with the media on a regular basis, and the paparazzi, having gotten wind of an Avengers gathering here, were already swarming into the lobby. Bruce had been the last to arrive, and he'd barely made it through, questions flying in from every side.

But knowing Tony, he'd play it beautifully, with a cheeky remark and a happy smile on Steve's face. They'd release a statement, and that would be that. 

Bruce fiddled with the edges of his phone, still hanging back. Everyone seemed to be having a nice time.

"There you are." An arm slid through his and he looked over.

"Oh. Hi, Natasha. Nice party."

She smirked. "How would you know? Come on. Come get a drink."

Bruce let her lead him over to the gathered crowd, grateful for her social grease, holding her close up against his side. But when they reached Tony, he broke into a thrilled smile.

"Brucie bear! You made it! Come here." Tony pulled him into a hug, and Bruce squeezed back. He smelled like champagne.

"Congratulations, Tony. Steve. It's really wonderful. I'm so happy for you." And he really was. As soon as he said it, he felt the words flush through him, warm and soft. They were getting _married._ Three years ago, Bruce would have considered it impossible for any of the Avengers to commit to anyone, but they were making it work. It was inspiring, really.

Tony waved over at the bartender. "Come on you need a drink. What'll you have?"

Bruce smiled softly, looking up to catch Steve staring adoringly at Tony, stars in his eyes. "I'll have some champagne, thank you." In his head, he gave a silent toast: to _them._

**Bucky:**

Bucky jumped when a hand slid into his back pocket and squeezed. He spun around and caught an armful of Natasha. She deftly twisted to the side so she was tucked under his arm but it wasn't overtly romantic. They were still playing around the edges of this thing, but Bucky hadn't seen his own bed for over a week now, so he was hopeful it was going good places. Still, this was the handsiest he'd ever seen her. "What's up?"

"You need to talk to Steve."

"What?"

"You should talk to him. He's all nervous."

Bucky looked across the room to where Steve was talking to Bruce and Tony. "He doesn't look nervous. He looks happy."

"Once you learn to just trust me, everything will go a lot easier for you, Barnes." The corner of her mouth twitched up in a smirk and she started to pull Bucky across the room. 

"I think you of all people should know that I often prefer when things are a bit _difficult."_ Bucky rubbed a subtle circle on the back of her hand with his thumb and quirked an eyebrow. 

Natasha laughed, then leaned in close, eyes flicking up under dark eyelashes. She bit her lip, then smiled, and Bucky's heart skipped a dangerous beat. "Bucky… be a good boy and go talk to Steve?" 

Bucky grinned back. "Yes, ma'am."

Natasha deposited him next to Steve, who was magically alone, as Tony and Bruce made for the bar. 

"Hey," Bucky said, feeling awkward for some unfathomable reason. He'd never found it awkward to talk to Steve, but being instructed to do so was kind of disorienting. But this was _Steve._ And he was engaged! Bucky clapped him on the back. "Well, would you look at that. It only took a hundred years for one of us to get laid on the regular."

Steve chuckled and quirked up a brow. "Oh yeah? A not-so-little birdie tells me I'm not the only one getting laid on the regular." Steve's gaze slid over towards Natasha.

"That little shit," Bucky huffed out. "Barton!"

But as Clint swore profusely and tried to use Thor as a human - _Asgardian_ \- shield, Steve laughed warmly and pulled Bucky away, towards one of the long rows of art in the middle of the room. "Let him stew. I'm happy for you guys, you know? However serious it is, it's nice. You deserve nice things - both of you."

"Shit, that's my line, Stevie."

"You really - uh - you're pleased? About me and Tony?"

Bucky halted and stared at Steve, incredulous. "Did you really think there was a chance I wouldn't be?"

"No… no. Not like that." Steve shrugged. "You just… you've always been protective of me, you know. Wouldn't let me go to just anyone."

"Yeah, I wouldn't." Bucky crossed his arms and leaned in. "Don't tell Stark, but I know he's not just anyone, alright? I've never seen you so happy. He treats you right. I love the guy."

Steve broke into a brilliant grin.

"I'm really happy for you. Really happy. And I'll fight whoever I have to for best man."

Steve slung an arm around Bucky's shoulders and drew him into a hug. "No contest."

**Clint:**

Dipping between guests, Clint swore.

_“Shit! Shit! Shit!_ Bucky’s going to murder me,” he mumbled as he strategically placed himself behind two of Tony’s SI colleagues. He hadn’t meant to tell Steve, hadn’t really told him anything at all. He just suggested one groggy morning that maybe Steve would find his friend in Nat’s apartment and _bam!_ the cat was out of the bag. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn't even had his coffee yet. 

Clint walked around the u-shaped bar, finally managing to settle near a group of people at the corner of it, completely out of Bucky’s line of sight. That was when he felt the air shift next to him. 

“Vodka martini, dirty.” Clint’s stomach dropped, but he still turned to face Nat and her raised eyebrow. “I think you should be more worried about what _I’m_ going to do to you.” 

Clint tensed; her face was completely blank, unreadable. “Did you guys really want to keep it under wraps?”

Natasha didn’t reply right away, taking her drink as the bartender slid it across the polished wood. “No.” She took a long sip. “But it’s fun to see you squirm.”

Clint groaned. 

“And whine.”

“Ugh, go bother Bucky.”

Natasha pressed her lips together, eyes dancing under the gallery lights. “That’s for later.”

Clint snorted. “Fuck off.”

Natasha laughed. “Cheers to you too.” Smirking, she turned back to look over the party and Clint followed her gaze. There were a couple dozen people mingling through rows of art, swaying on the small dance floor in front of the jazz band. In the middle of it all, Tony and Steve were in each other’s arms. 

If it were any other day, Clint would probably flick mixing straws at their faces, or peg them with maraschino cherries - they looked so ridiculously sappy, a level of sappiness that required retribution. The Asgardian mead had Steve practically pink-faced and Tony was reacting with hearts in his eyes. Clint should be making fun of them or at least gagging in their vicinity, but instead he leaned back against the bar and watched them dance, lifting his glass without looking away to clink against Nat’s. 

“I think we did good work here.”

“Clint, you had nothing to do with this.”

“Not how I remember it.”

**Natasha:**

Nat kissed Clint on the cheek with a smack and stole his drink. She slipped through the crowd, knocking back the rest of his rum and coke, then dropped the empty glass on the end of the bar. Tony was alone, his eyes on Steve, who was looking at the art with Bucky, so Nat sidled up to him and took his hand. "Dance with me?"

"Of course." Tony swept her into an easy hold and spun them once around the dance floor before falling into a more relaxed pace. 

Natasha laughed, tossing her head back and letting Tony lead. He was warm and solid against her, the alcohol finally buzzing a little in her head, and it was hard to express how happy she was for her friends. "I love you," she said, instead.

Tony held her closer. "Love you too. Thank you, you know. For being there for us, always. Without you, I wouldn't have realized he needed the collar. There's so much…" Tony's eyes flicked away, over Nat's shoulder and she dropped her head to his chest. 

"You're welcome. And I'll always be here for you, both of you. Whatever you need."

Tony stopped abruptly, and Nat raised her head to find Steve standing there. "May I cut in?" he asked with a cheeky smirk. When she and Tony parted with a laugh, Steve stepped between them but didn't take Tony into his arms. Instead, he twirled Nat once and pulled her into a close hold, rocking - slightly less elegantly, but still providing a safe, solid hold - to the soft strains from the band. Nat watched Tony disappear into the crowd with a wink, and gave him a nod as he stepped away. 

Steve bent to murmur in her ear. "Thanks for coming tonight."

Nat hummed in reply, smiling. Steve smelled like the spiced mead Thor brought back from Asgard, and his eyes were a bit wet, his smile too soft. She turned Steve's hand into the light. "Nice bling."

He grinned. "Tony was waiting for me when I got here. I guess our first go around wasn't romantic enough for him." He tilted the ring back and forth, making it flash and sparkle. "I'm just glad it's really happening - but I can't lie and say the ring isn't pretty damn nice."

"You guys are both hopeless saps. You deserve each other."

Steve kissed the top of her head then leaned back his eyes sliding across the room to where Bucky and Clint appeared to be arguing over something. "You deserve good things too, Nat."

She smiled softly. "I'm working on it. Don't rush me."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"I want to be a bridesmaid. Or the flower girl. Or wait - officiant."

"You," Steve said, spinning them around again then tucking her close, facing them out towards the sprawling lights of the city at night, "are the only person I know who could manage to pull off all three."

"Congratulations."

**Author's Note:**

> **Our Reaction:**
> 
> We hope you've liked the team's reactions to the engagement… and now it's time for a little reaction of our own! First of all, an enormous thank you to all our readers, kudosers, commenters - those who screech at us in Discord or on tumblr, who send us prompts, rec the series, and give us love. The past three years of writing this together and sharing it with you have been incredible.  
> But that being said, we're both sad and excited to announce that the final episode of Held will be posted on February 2nd, 2020, which is also the series' third anniversary. There will be eight more episodes after this one, and they're all fully planned out, so we won't be taking any more prompts. That will close out season two, and the series.  
> We feel like it's the right time, and it gives the series the end it deserves. We wanted to finish while it was still fun and our ideas felt fresh. We're gutted, because we've been doing this together for three years and we're going to miss it - and you guys - SO MUCH. But on the bright side, we have new projects together we want to focus on, and it's going to feel really good to have a closing chapter and be able to view the series as a whole.  
> Thank you again for going on his journey with us! We're so excited to share the last eight episodes with you <33333333  
> All the love in the world,  
> Ashes and Ferret


End file.
